If You Want It, Go Get It with Danielle Robay
Danielle Robay is a correspondent for NBC Los Angeles. She spends her days interviewing celebrities. Glamorous right? It wasn’t always! Danielle stopped by Dope Ass Podcast to share why it’s so important to be ok with failure, why you can’t let embarrassment get to you, and why you need your own personal mantra. Tune in and get inspired!
Whatever the thing is – a career as a stand-up comedian, a job as a tv host, or even just a fancy Chanel bag – if you want it, you have to put yourself out there and get it. Danielle Robay is our guest on this week’s episode of the Dope Ass Podcast. She was the youngest tv host in Chicago during her time with The Jam and now she’s a correspondent for NBC Los Angeles.
Danielle exudes a confident, put together image. But she shares a major secret: she didn’t wake up like this. Listen in as Danielle talks about why she’s not afraid to fail, why it’s good to have a high threshold for embarrassment, and why you need to have a mantra. If you’ve been feeling stuck in your life, this is your episode as Danielle is nothing short of inspirational.
[01:33] - Obsessed with entertainment
[03:55] - Driven by impact
[05:30] - If you want it, go get it!
[09:32] - Pretty Smart
[11:30] - Rallying for change
[15:08] - Digital teachers
[17:36] - The comparison game
[21:35] - Favorite books
[23:32] - Win or learn
[24:55] - Morning show sleep schedule
[26:06] - Instagram catharsis
Danielle Robay is a correspondent for NBC Los Angeles and formerly co-host of The Jam morning show in Chicago. At the time, she was the youngest morning TV host in Chicago. Danielle sees pop culture as this generation's cultural currency and is dedicated to making sure women's voices are amplified in this era. Her previous on-air reporting and hosting credits include Entertainment Tonight Online, NBC 4, and HLN’s Dr. Drew, where she’s interviewed everyone from Tom Hanks and Gina Rodriguez to Michael B. Jordan and Taylor Swift. You can learn more about her on her website and give her a follow on Instagram and Twitter.
Interviewing The Interviewer
On this week’s episode of the Dope Ass Podcast, I turned the tables on journalist, TV host, and my good friend, Danielle Robay and interviewed HER on All. The. Things.
We kicked it off with a classic meet-cute story — ours to be more specific. Danielle caught me in the hallway of an event we were both at and accosted me with lovely conversation and great vibes in the seven minutes before my uber arrived. It just so happened that I caught her on a short stint back in Chicago between moves to L.A. So, you could say that the stars aligned on both micro and macro levels to bring us together.
But enough about us. I’m here to tell you all about Danielle and why she’s hella dope. First off, she’s always known what she wanted. Even from an early age she knew she was destined for the spotlight.
All that time binge-watching TV as a kid? Merely research for her future life.
Her appearance on B-96 singing (probably?) Get Out by Jojo? The segue into learning how to write music and interning for the station. Which ultimately led to her finding her passion in the newsroom.
But Danielle isn’t motivated by fame or fortune, she’s driven by heart and impact, which is pretty obvious if you watch like 30 seconds of any of her interviews. And for Danielle, that impact is all about empowering young women through storytelling. Currently she’s working on launching Pretty Smart, a platform that brings on influential women (think Hillary Clinton, Jameela Jamil, etc.) to share their stories with the next gen. It’s kind of a big deal, and it brings Danielle one step closer to her dream of being the next Barbara Walters.
Aside from game-changing initiatives like this, Danielle is pretty inspiring when she’s just being herself. Whether that’s only working with brands that align to a higher mission, or encouraging young women to raise their threshold for embarrassment (something that I, as a standup comedian can relate to) and go after their dreams, she keeps things practical and real.
But not too real. We dove into the conversation of social media in the modern age and Danielle and I both agreed that there can be a lot of pressure to share, for sharing’s sake when you’ve built a platform. But there comes a point when, as content creators and real human beings, the line has to be drawn. Just because you see us at our best, doesn’t mean you always deserve to see us at our hot mess-ness.
And speaking of social media, Danielle had some GREAT advice on navigating life with a platform. First thing, you’ve got to show up online like you do offline. Split personalities are when you start to get in trouble. Second, and these are her words, not mine, if you are what you eat, you think what you consume. So mute, unfollow and block away my friends—your online world and persona should be just as fabulous as your real life.
On the subject of living a fabulous life, and closing out with some inspo for ya, are some words of wisdom I like to live by. If you feel called to do something, like I don’t know...be a part of the entertainment industry, host a TV program, start a public-facing Instagram account or run a podcast, then you’re probably being pulled to that path for a reason.
Listen to your talents and your passions and chase them. Chances are, if you’re looking for something, it’s looking for you too.
Mic drop.
On the Dope Ass Podcast, Andrea Levoff and her roster of hilarious, inspirational, and always-opinionated guests are tackling everything from motherhood to fashion to travel and spirituality---with a seriously dope ass lens. But don’t take our word for it. Learn more about your dope ass host and her mission to make everyone see the world through hot pink-colored glasses at https://www.andrealevoff.com/.
This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.